The essence of all growth is a
willingness to change forthe better and then an unremitting
willingness to shoulderwhatever responsibility this entails.AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115

Sometimes when I've become willing to
do what I shouldhave been doing all along, I want
praise and recognition.I don't realize that the more I'm
willing to actdifferently, the more exciting my life
is. The more I amwilling to help others, the more
rewards I receive.That's what practicing the principles
means to me. Funand benefits for me are in the
willingness to do theactions, not to get immediate results.
Being a littlekinder, a little slower to anger, a
little more lovingmakes my life better--day by day.

***********************************************************

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When I came into A.A., I came into a
new world. A soberworld. A world of sobriety, peace,
serenity, and happiness.But I know that if I take just one
drink, I'll go rightback into that old world. That
alcoholic world. That worldof drunkenness, conflict, and misery.
That alcoholic worldis not a pleasant place for an
alcoholic to live in. Lookingat the world through the bottom of a
whiskey glass is no funafter you've become an alcoholic. Do I
want to go back tothat alcoholic world?

Meditation For The Day

Pride stands sentinel at the door of
the heart and shuts outthe love of God. God can only dwell
with the humble and theobedient. Obedience to God's will is
the key unlocking thedoor to God's kingdom. You cannot obey
God to the best of yourability without in time realizing
God's love and responding tothat love. The rough stone steps of
obedience lead up to wherethe mosaic floor of love and joy is
laid. Where God's spiritis, there is your home. There is
heaven for you.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that God may make His home in
my humble and obedientheart. I pray that I may obey His
guidance to the best ofmy ability.

***********************************************************

As Bill Sees It

The Forgotten Mountain, p. 100

When I was a child, I acquired some of
the traits that had a lot to dowith my insatiable craving for
alcohol. I was brought up in a littletown in Vermont, under the shadow of
Mount Aeolus. An earlyrecollection is that of looking up at
this vast and mysteriousmountain, wondering what it meant and
whether I could ever climbthat high. But I was presently
distracted by my aunt who, as afourth-birthday present, made me a
plate of fudge. For the nextthirty-five years I pursued the fudge
of life and quite forgot about themountain.

<< << << >>
>> >>

When self-indulgence is less than
ruinous, we have a milder word forit. We call it "taking our comfort."

1. A.A. Comes Of Age, pp. 52-532. 12 & 12, p. 67

***********************************************************

Walk in Dry PlacesProtecting SobrietyThough AA members never criticize
drinking customs, we do tell newcomers that it's wise to avoid
situations involving alcohol. Even this is not an absolute, because we
also concede that it's sometimes necessary to attend a cocktail
reception or to lunch with a friend in a bar. So how do we distinguish
between what's safe and what's likely to lead to trouble.The litmus test is always to look at
our own motives and spiritual guidance. A drink has no power over us
unless we want to take the drink. If we are not deliberately
seeking out drinking situations, our motives are probably good. If our
spiritual house is in order, our Higher Power will also protect us in
any situation.

Wherever we go, however, we should
also make our sobriety the first priority of business. Whatever the
importance of any social event, it is insignificant compared with the
importance of sobriety. Keep sobriety at the top of your list, and the
other decisions will follow in proper order.We should hole the additional thought
that "walking in dry places" is really thinking of our selves as always
being in dry places under God's guidance.

..Today I will focus on the sober
world I want to enjoy and share. The world of drinking has nothing for
me. I may encounter situations involving casual drinking today,
but I will not be part of them in mind and spirit. I will think and
walk in dry places.

***********************************************************

Keep It Simple

You cannot prevent the birds of
sadness from passing over your head, but you can prevent their making
their nest in your head.---Chinese proverbLife is full of feelings. We can be
happy, sad, mad, scared. These feelings can come and go quickly. Or we
may hang on to them. As recovering addicts, we used to hang on to
feelings that made us feel bad. We let them make"nest" in our hair. We
used our feelings as excuse to drink or use other drugs. Now we're
learning to hang on to our good feelings. We can let go of anger, hurt,
and fear. We can shoo away the birds of sadness and welcome the birds
of happiness.Prayer for the Day: Higher
Power, help me become a "bird watcher." Help me learn from my feelings.
And help me let go of the bad one so I can be happy.Action For the Day: If I need to
get rid of the sadness or anger that I'm hanging on to, I'll get help
from my sponsor, a counselor, or a clergy person.

***********************************************************Each Day a New Beginning

Even though I can't solve your problems, I will be there as your
sounding board whenever you need me. --Sandra K. Lamberson
The prize we each have been given is our ability to offer full and
interested attention to people seeking our counsel. And seldom does a
day pass, that we aren't given the opportunity to listen, to nurture,
to offer hope where it's been dashed.
We are not separate, one from another. Interdependence is our blessing;
however, we fail to recognize it at our crucial crossroads. Alone we
ponder. Around us, others, too, are often suffering in silence. These
Steps that guide our lives push us to break the silence. The secrets we
keep, keep us from the health we deserve.
Our emotional well-being is enhanced each time we share ourselves - our
stories or our attentive ears. We need to be a part of someone else's
pain and growth in order to make use of the pain that we have grown
beyond. Pain has its purpose in our lives. And in the lives of our
friends, too. It's our connection to one another, the bridge that
closes the gap.
We dread our pain. We hate the suffering our friends must withstand.
But each of us gains when we accept these challenges as our invitations
for growth and closeness to others.
Secrets keep us sick. I will listen and share and be well.

***********************************************************

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth
Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards

As each member of a resentful family begins to see his shortcomings and
admits them to the others, he lays a basis for helpful discussion.
These family talks will be constructive if they can be carried on
without heated argument, self-pity, self-justification or resentful
criticism. Little by little, mother and children will see they ask too
much, and father will see he gives too little. Giving, rather than
getting, will become the guiding principle.

GROUNDED - Alcohol clipped this pilot's
wings until sobriety and hard work brought him back to the sky.

For a long time I did not consider flying again, but I could not purge
the dream of doing so from my heart. One of my meditation books
had said, "Before any dream can come true, there must first be a
dream." I had been told if I wanted to fly again, I would have to
begin at the very bottom, with a private license, even though I had
previously held the highest license the FAA awarded, the air transport
pilot license. I studied for and took all the lengthy FAA written
examinations. I had to go back and relearn things I had learned
thirty years before and had long since forgotten. I had,
unexpectedly, been able to reacquire my FAA medical certificate after
proving the quality of my sobriety for more than two years.

At
the Foundation, the same story repeats itself. Eight tons of books and
literature per month do not package and channel themselves all over the
world. Sacks of letters on every conceivable A.A. problem ranging from
a lonely-heart Eskimo to the growing pains of thousands of groups must
be answered by people who know. Right contacts with the world outside
have to be maintained. A.A.'s lifelines have to be tended. So we hire
A.A. staff members. We pay them well, and they earn what they get. They
are professional secretaries, * but they certainly are not professional
A.A.'s.

* The work of present-day staff members has no counterpart among the
job categories of commercial organizations. These A.A.'s bring a whole
range of business and professional experience to their service at G.S.O.

p. 169

***********************************************************

May I look at my experiences, not as
trouble, but as a way to use myexperience to help others.--SweetyZee

When you make a mistake, make amends
immediately.

Kindness can become its own motive. We
are made kind by being kind.--Eric Hoffer

Life is like a mirror. If you frown at
it, it frowns back. If you smile, itreturns the greeting.

"One of the greatest gifts you can
give to anyone is the gift of attention."--Jim Rohn

"Develop a benevolent world view; look
for the good in the people andcircumstances around you."--Brian Tracy

Much of the gratitude that I talk
about needs to be centered in what I dowith today; I need to focus on the
present, rather than procrastinate forthe future.

As a sick alcoholic I lived either in
the guilt of yesterday or the fear oftomorrow - missing the reality of the
present. The present moment is allthat I have and through this "moment"
I live and breathe and have myexistence!

My understanding of prayer is centered
in the present moment becauseany understanding of relationship and
communication, especially withGod, must begin from where one is,
rather than where one would like tobe. Spirituality is the reality of the
moment.

Master, thank You for the life that is
experienced in the moment.

***********************************************************

"O Lord my God, I will give thanks to
you forever."Psalm 30:12

"You are worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power; forYou created all things, and by Your
will they exist and were created."Revelation 4:11

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have
seen me, you have believed; blessed arethose who have not seen and yet have
believed."John 20:29

At that time the disciples came to
Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in thekingdom of heaven?" He called a little
child and had him stand among them. And hesaid: "I tell you the truth, unless
you change and become like little children, you willnever enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like thischild is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven."Matthew 18:1-4

***********************************************************

Daily Inspiration

Let life's lessons grow into wisdom so
that you may be the light for someone else's darkness. Lord, help me
put to good use that which today brings so that I am better prepared
for tomorrow.

To know someone doesn't mean to know
every detail of that person's life. It means to feel affection,
confidence and to believe in that person. Lord, may I really know You
and have it reflect in how I treat others.

***********************************************************

NA Just For Today

Too Busy

"We must use what we learn or we will
lose it, no matter how long we have been clean."Basic Text, p. 82

After putting some clean time
together, some of us have a tendency to forget what our most important
priority is. Once a week or less we say, "I've gotta get to a meeting
tonight. It's been.. " We've been caught up in other things, important
for sure, but no more so than our continued participation in Narcotics
Anonymous.

It happens gradually. We get jobs. We
reunite with our families. We're raising children, the dog is sick, or
we're going to school at night. The house needs to be cleaned. The lawn
needs to be mowed. We have to work late. We're tired. There's a good
show at the theater tonight. And all of a sudden, we notice that we
haven't called our sponsor, been to a meeting, spoken to a newcomer, or
even talked to God in quite a while.

What do we do at this point? Well, we
either renew our commitment to our recovery, or we continue being too
busy to recover until something happens and our lives become
unmanageable. Quite a choice! Our best bet is to put more of our energy
into maintaining the foundation of recovery on which our lives are
built. That foundation makes everything else possible, and it will
surely crumble if we get too busy with everything else.

Just for today: I can't afford to be
too busy to recover. I will do something today that sustains my
recovery.

***********************************************************

You are reading from the book Today's
Gift.But don't go into Mr. McGregor's
garden. --Beatrix PotterSince we are members of a family, we
are not free to do anything we like. We may not be able to go as far
from home as we would like. We may have to get up earlier in the
morning than we would like. We may have only limited use of the car.
Families set up limits in order to maintain order and happiness. If
each of us demanded something different for supper each night, the
situation would be unmanageable.Limits also keep us safe. When Peter
Rabbit was told not to go into Mr. McGregor's garden, it was for his
own good. Limits and restrictions are a form of love and protection,
and we all have them. When we bump up against one of these limits, we
can be assured they serve to point us in another direction, one with
freedoms of its own which we may never have explored without being
forced to.What freedom can I discover in a
limitation today?

You are reading from the book
Touchstones.Chaos demands to be recognized and
experienced before letting itself be converted into a new order.
--Hermann HesseThe forces of chaos and forces of
order are always at work in the world. While many things are being
built up, many are wearing down. It is a good thing, because life would
be very boring in an unchanging state. But the chaos we met in our
lives was often extreme and unusually destructive. We had to recognize
it and feel the pain of it before we could build a new order. Looking
back we can see that our First Step was just such an event.All people have small chaotic events
in their lives every day. If we take a moment and reflect on our
present lives, we can certainly become aware of some ways in which
things are in disarray. By simply letting ourselves know it in this
moment, we get ready for the new order to begin.I pray for courage and honesty to see
the chaos which exists today. Help me become ready for the new order to
evolve.

You are reading from the book Each Day
a New Beginning.Even though I can't solve your
problems, I will be there as your sounding board whenever you need me.
--Sandra K. LambersonThe prize we each have been given is
our ability to offer full and interested attention to people seeking
our counsel. And seldom does a day pass, that we aren't given the
opportunity to listen, to nurture, to offer hope where it's been dashed.We are not separate, one from another.
Interdependence is our blessing; however, we fail to recognize it at
our crucial crossroads. Alone we ponder. Around us, others, too, are
often suffering in silence. These Steps that guide our lives push us to
break the silence. The secrets we keep, keep us from the health we
deserve.Our emotional well-being is enhanced
each time we share ourselves - our stories or our attentive ears. We
need to be a part of someone else's pain and growth in order to make
use of the pain that we have grown beyond. Pain has its purpose in our
lives. And in the lives of our friends, too. It's our connection to one
another, the bridge that closes the gap.We dread our pain. We hate the
suffering our friends must withstand. But each of us gains when we
accept these challenges as our invitations for growth and closeness to
others.Secrets keep us sick. I will listen
and share and be well.

You are reading from the book The
Language of Letting Go.Using Others to Stop Our PainOur happiness is not a present someone
else holds in his or her hands. Our well being is not held by another
to be given or withheld at whim. If we reach out and try to force
someone to give us what we believe he or she holds, we will be
disappointed. We will discover that it is an illusion. The person
didn't hold it. He or she never shall. That beautifully wrapped box
with the ribbon on it that we believed contained our happiness that
someone was holding - its an illusion!In those moments when we are trying to
reach out and force someone to stop our pain and create our joy, if we
can find the courage to stop flailing about and instead stand still and
deal with our issues, we will find our happiness.Yes, it is true that if someone steps
on our foot, he or she is hurting us and therefore holds the power to
stop our pain by removing his or her foot. But the pain is still ours.
And so is the responsibility to tell someone to stop stepping on our
feet.Healing will come when were aware of
how we attempt to use others to stop our pain and create our happiness.
We will heal from the past. We will receive insights that can change
the course of our relationships.We will see that, all along, our
happiness and our well being have been in our hands. We have held that
box. The contents are ours for the opening.God, help me remember that I hold the
key to my own happiness. Give me the courage to stand still and deal
with my own feelings. Give me the insights I need to improve my
relationships. Help me stop doing the codependent dance and start doing
the dance of recovery.

I am attracted to positive people and
I attract positive people to me. Today I continue to seek and find
people who are positive, healthy and nurturing. --Ruth Fishel

*******************************************

Journey To The Heart

Be Aware of the Energy Around You

I stopped at a quaint little store in
the mountain city of Solvang, California. It was filled with clocks,
tick, tick, ticking away. Some sang, some chirped. Some just ticked.
“If you wind them together long enough, they’ll all soon begin ticking
together in harmony,” the shopkeeper told me knowingly. I listened.
What she said was true.

We are energy and vibration. When
we’re open, how easy it is to begin ticking to the rhythm of those
around us. If we had kept ourselves locked up and put away, it would be
different. But since we’ve chosen to be open, to be sensitive, to open
our hearts and souls, we’ll connect with, tick to, vibrations of those
around us. Our energy fields will touch and merge. We’ll begin to feel,
and sometimes visibly take on, the characteristics, rhythms, and
vibrations of those in our field.

Pay attention to, choose carefully,
those with whom you live, eat, and play. There may be times when you
can handle their energy, and times it isn’t right for you. Sometimes,
when we’re feeling off balance, it may be that we’re around energy that
just isn’t right for us.

Stay conscious of who you travel with
on this journey. See who you’re attracted to and notice who is
attracted to you. See how much better you feel when you surround
yourself with the energy of love.

*******************************************

More Language Of Letting Go

Make the hard calls

Sometimes we make choces with relative
ease. One option feels right. We have no negative feelings about the
other choice. On some occasions, we may be faced with what one man
described as a “hard call.”

“I had raised my own children alone,”
Jason said. “And I did a good job. I enjoyed my independence, but I
relished the idea of being in a relationship at some time in my life. A
few years after my two children left home, I met a woman I truly liked.
We spent time together, got right up to the edge of being committed,
but I had to back off.

“I liked her, but she had two children
of her own. They were teenagers. They didn’t want me in their mother’s
life. I didn’t want to lose this woman. But at a deeper level, I really
didn’t want to be involved in the teenage years of raising someone
else’s children. I knew I had to let her go,” he said. “It was a hard
call.”

A hard call is when we don’t like
either choice, but one option is unacceptable. Hard calls can take many
shapes and forms. We may love someone who has a serious drinking
problem and simply decide we can’t live with him or her– despite how we
feel about the person. We may love someone who has physically abused us
or displayed signs of violent behavior, while our feelings may be
genuine, so is the danger. We can be faced with hard calls at work. At
one point in my life, I could barely tolerate my supervisors. But I
liked the work I was doing. I decided to stay; I’m still glad I did.

Hard calls are a part of life. They
force us to examine our values and determine what’s genuinely important
to us. They insist that we choose the path that’s in our highest good.

God, when I am faced with a tough
decision, help me be gentle with myself and others as I sort out, with
your help, what’s right for me.

*******************************************

Know Your FoodEating Close to the Earth

by Madisyn Taylor

Eating organic local food will change
your life for the positive in so many ways as you connect with the
earth and your community.

The food we eat is a multidimensional
aspect of our lives. Food provides us with the energy that enables us
to grow and prosper. Yet it can be, and frequently is, much, much more.
Our food can be an experience in and of itself if we allow it to be.
The dishes we remember from childhood offer unmatched comfort. The act
of preparing meals can be an art form of the highest caliber. And the
nourishment we derive from this fare promotes wellness within us. But
many of us, distracted by daily affairs, forget that the profound
pleasures of eating go beyond simple sustenance. We eat foods that are
convenient or we eat unconsciously, snacking on whatever happens to be
on hand. To understand the true value of food and the impact it can
have on our lives, we should acknowledge and honor it by eating close
to the earth.

If you have ever shelled and eaten
garden-grown peas or bitten into a sun-warmed apple freshly plucked
from its tree, you likely understand that there is a marked difference
between these foods and those that are processed and stacked on
supermarket shelves. Food recently picked contains more of its original
life force and thus has a greater store of energy and nutrients. You
can ensure you are eating close to the earth—and enjoying the many
benefits of doing so—by shopping at a local farmers market and getting
to know the individuals who grow your food. If you make the experience
of shopping in this way enjoyable, you will be more apt to reject more
convenient canned, packaged, and frozen foods in favor of the real
delight you feel while browsing stalls of fresh foods nourished by the
same soil you can find in your own backyard. You will soon learn what
foods are in season in your area and how to prepare them.

As you savor the vivid flavors of
juicy ripe fruits and the hearty crunch of unprocessed vegetables, you
can also take pleasure in the fact that, by eating close to the earth,
you are supporting farmers in your region, connecting with your local
ecosystem, discouraging those who would waste precious fossil fuels by
carting produce cross-country, and helping to preserve healthy culinary
traditions that have existed for centuries. Published with permission
from Daily OM

*******************************************

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Change is the characteristic of all
growth. From drinking to sobriety, from dishonesty to honesty, from
conflict to serenity, from childish dependence to adult responsibility
— all this and infinitely more represent change for the better. Only
God is unchanging; only He has all the truth there is. Do I accept the
belief that lack of power was my dilemma? Have I found a power by which
I can live — a Power greater than myself

Today I Pray

I pray that The Program will be, for
me, an outline for change — for changing me. These days of transition
from active addiction to sobriety, from powerlessness to power through
God, may be rocky, as change can be. May my restlessness be stilled by
the unchanging nature of God, in whom I place my trust. Only He is
whole and perfect and predictable.

Today I Will Remember

I can count on my Higher Power.

*******************************************

One More Day

A friend is a person with whom I may
be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We may wonder what has happened to old
friends we have lost touch with over the years. Sometimes we get so
caught up in our busy lives we neglect our friendships.

We can rebuild or strengthened a
relationship by taking the first step in reaching out to others. Old
connections can be reestablished. They were important to us at one time
in our lives and can be again. We may find they have been wondering
about us as well.

Today, we can take up pen and paper
and write to them about ourselves. Now is the time to find out what has
happened to our old friends and let them know they’re in our thoughts.

I will try today to establish contact
with an old friend.

*****************************************

One Day At A Time

~ Aging ~Those who love deeply never grow old;they may die of old age, but they die
young.Benjamin Franklin

I used to be afraid of getting older.
I was also afraid to become friends with older people, because I would
come to love them and then they would die. I could not handle
unpleasant feelings (other than if I overate to stop feeling them)
because the feeling of unpleasantness would totally devastate me.

In working the Twelve Step program, my
Higher Power has brought me great recovery in this area ... I am now
able to handle the grief and sorrow that come up when I allow myself to
get to know and love older people and then they die. I am now free in
this area! I get to enjoy the wisdom and beauty that they have to
share, from all their life experiences, and from the beautiful people
they are!

Another beautiful gift from my Higher
Power came when I started relating to older people again. When the
first one died, it really threw me, and I was very sad. But I got up
the next day and had a great spiritual awakening: this person was
missing and that was sad, but I looked around and saw all the other
wonderful people still there in my life, with whom I got to share
another day! Life suddenly became much more precious to me ... to have
one more day to be with and share with someone who touches my soul!

One Day at a Time . . .I enjoy myself as I become older. I
allow myself to enjoy friendships with those who are older than me. I
thank my Higher Power for every day and every moment of precious life!~ Lynne ~

*****************************************

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Burn the idea into the consciousness
of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone. The only
condition is that he trust in God and clean house. - Pg. 98 - Working
With Others

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

When we feel like we can't hold on for
a whole day, we get a clock and hold on for an hour. When an hour is
too long, we hold on for 10 minutes. At the end of 10, do another 10,
and another and another, until it's OK.

Help me make it from hour to hour, or
minute to minute if need be!

Beyond What I See

I want to know in my heart that life
has meaning and purpose beyond what I see. I want to train my eye for
seeing what is beautiful in life the way that a musician trains his
ear. I want to know that each day is a gift, that I can't just expect
it, that life is precious.

I say thank you for the gift of this
day

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Forgive yourself because your
Spiritual Source already has. Who are you to argue about this?

T.G.I.F.: Thank God I'm Forgiven.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

The wreckage of the past is
environmentally safe and bio-degradable.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

I am attracted to positive people and
I attract positive people to me. Today I continue to seek and find
people who are positive, healthy and nurturing.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

If I don't let go, I lose my grip. -
Anon.

*****************************************

AA Thought for the Day

April 10

Fear of RejectionAlmost without exception, my AA
friends admitted that they had struggled with the same feelings.Some claimed that their fear of
rejection stemmed from a lack of self-worth;some of the men laid the difficulty to
feelings of inadequacy stimulated by years of drinking.It was also asserted that we couldn't
stand the responsibility of being lovedand so sought rejection in subtle
ways. About the only thing that everyone agreed upon completelywas that this problem, like our
drinking problem, had a spiritual solution.- The Best of the Grapevine [Vol. 1],
p.16

Thought to Ponder . . .A fear faced is a fear erased.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .Y A N A = You Are Not Aone.

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

Earnestness"An alcoholic in his cups is an
unlovely creature.Our struggles with them are variouslystrenuous, comic, and tragic.One poor chap committed suicide in my
home.He could not, or would not, see our
way of life.There is, however, a vast amount of
fun about it all.I suppose some would be shocked at ourseeming worldliness and levity.But just underneath there isdeadly earnestness.Faith has to work twenty-four hours a
dayin and through us,or we perish."Bill W., Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 92

Thought to Consider....Laughter is the sound effect of
recovery.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*DEADDrinking Ends All Dreams

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

MessageFrom "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics
Anonymous":"Three blocks away from the main
office we have a good-sized loft space where all shipping and mailing
is done. This activity now runs into tons of
material a month. Six busy lads spend full time at it. Last year they
shipped about 40,000 books and hundreds of thousands of
pamphlets, many of them newly designed and edited largely through the
work of Ralph, our consultant on pamphlet
literature. They mailed about 30,000 letters and bulletins and did huge
quantities of mimeographing. [c. 1959]"2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age, pg. 207

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"Finally came April 1939. The book was
done. Tales of recovery for its story section had been supplied by Dr.
Bob and his Akron brethren. Others were
supplied by New Yorkers, New Jerseyites. One came in from Cleveland and
another from Maryland. Chapters had been read
and discussed at meetings. I had thought myself the author of the text
until I discovered I was just the umpire of
the differences of opinion. After endless voting on a title for the new
work we had decided to call it The Way Out. But
inquiry by Fitz M., our Maryland alcoholic, at The Library of Congress
disclosed the fact that 12 books already bore that
title. Surely we couldn't make our book the 13th. So we named it
Alcoholics Anonymous instead! Though we didn't
know it, our movement then got its name -- a name which because of the implication of humility and modesty
has given us our treasured spiritual principle of anonymity."AA Co-Founder, Bill W., July 1947"Book Publication Proved Discouraging
Venture"The Language of the Heart

~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve
Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"Thus was I convinced that God is
concerned with us humans when we wantHim enough. At long last I saw, I
felt, I believed. Scales of pride andprejudice fell from my eyes. A new
world came into view."~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition,
Bill's Story, pg. 12~

I was to sit quietly when in doubt,
asking only for direction and strength to meet my problems as He would
have me.-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 13 (Bill’s
Story)

Many of us also like the experience of
an occasional retreat from the outside world where we can quiet down
for an undisturbed day or so of self-overhaul
and meditation.-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.
89

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

The Forgotten MountainWhen I was a child, I acquired some of
the traits that had a lot to do with my insatiable craving for alcohol.
I was brought up in a little town in Vermont, under
the shadow of Mount Aeolus. An early recollection is that of looking up
at this vast and mysterious mountain, wondering
what it meant and whether I could ever climb that high. But I was
presently distracted by my aunt who, as a
fourth-birthday present, made me a plate of fudge. For the next
thirty-five years I pursued the fudge of life and quite
forgot about the mountain.When self-indulgence is less than
ruinous, we have a milder word for it. We call it 'taking our comfort.'
1. A.A. COMES OF AGE, PP. 52-53BR>2. TWELVE AND
TWELVE, P. 67

Prayer For The Day: Dear Father, please protect me in my
journey and light my way. Forgive me when I do wrong for I am trying.

Ask
and you shall receive,Seek and ye shall find,Knock and it shall be opened unto you.Matthew 7:7

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